El Sappo: Sorry no White Castles in Nuevo Mejico. We get our hoggers from Taco Bell (hey old Glenn owned the Westside!!).
Your point is Exactly right. 26 air is for dummies who can't remember to lap the brake valve and forget to recharge the brakepipe. Diesels took the talent out of railroading. Where it took skill and expertise to run a steam locomotive and this knowledge and ability seperated the hoggers from the hackers, it takes little brains to get a diesel over the road.
I don't agree with the D&S straight air program. It gives a real crappy ride. There have been engineers who can give a good ride over there, but they have been few.
All of these new fangled modifications are intended to reduce the talent needed to run a train. It's a slap in the face to those who took the time to learn how it is really done.
Let me also say that modern 26 air is probably a necessity in today's railroad environment of 250 car coal trains and DPU's on the rear. But, learning to master the old air systems is one of the reasons we're into all this.